Kyle Shanahan says the injury to Ricky Pearsall had nothing to do with Deebo Samuel’s return.
When taking the podium for the first time at San Francisco 49ers training camp, the head coach denied that Ricky Pearsall’s loss for the season influenced the decision.
“They’re just two just two completely different types of players,” Shanahan said. “Deebo was someone that we were hoping it would work out.”
The 49ers signed Samuel on a one-year, $7 million contract the same day Pearsall was placed on season-ending
injured reserve.
The 49ers and Samuel were talking for weeks, per a report; players like Kyle Juszczyk and George Kittle were on social media offering up their guest houses for Samuel. In the weeks leading up to his signing, Pearsall had symptoms from his 2025 PCL injury. The decision was made to get surgery.
While Samuel and Pearsall are different players and Shanahan may have wanted the former back before the latter went down with injury, Samuel’s return is more crucial given the situation. What once was a crowded wide receiver room with rookie De’Zhaun Stribling, Christian Kirk, Jacob Cowing and others is now a bit banged up, with small injuries keeping players out of practice.
Samuel says he has a few years left.
Samuel was drafted by the 49ers in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was traded to the Washington Commanders in 2025—one year ago and not re-signed at season’s end. While a one-year, $7 million contract (loaded with incentives) with the 49ers is nothing to sneeze at, Samuel obviously wanted to see what was available in the market first before committing. Shanahan noted they hoped it worked out depending on the opportunities Samuel had. It might have been more Samuel finding the right deal than the 49ers trying to get their wide receiver room figured out.
Kyle Shanahan just wanted his wide-back back. “The Ricky thing changed nothing”
